In the back streets of a tourist town in present-day Southeast Asia, we find a filthy cinder block room; a bed with soiled sheets; a little girl waits for the next man to use her. Alex, a human trafficking investigator plays the role of her next customer as he negotiates with the pimp for the use of the child.Claire, Alex’s wife, is caught up in the flow of her new life in Southeast Asia and her role as a volunteer in an aftercare shelter for rescued girls. She, and Alex both still are dealing with their grief of losing a child years earlier. As both of them struggle in their own way to overcome the pain of their past and realities of child exploitation where they now live and work, they find themselves being pulled together in to the lives of local neighborhood girls, whose freedom and dignity are threatened. Parallel story lines intertwine and twists unfold against the backdrop of the dangerous human trafficking world, in a story of struggle, life hope and redemption in the “Trade of Innocents.”

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Why is every show I watch using this theme? Csi, criminal minds, ncis’s, movies, etc? Is it that prevalent? I live in sk, Canada and this concept is foreign. The mail order service is like an urban legend. We have all heard about the guy that got the eastern European or Asian bride but there is no violent abuse associated. Is this real or is it fear mongering? Like abduction and serial killers which are rare. The largest metropolis near me is the ” murder capital of Canada”. And has about 15 homicides per year.

Thanks for visiting the blog and leaving a comment. I agree that at first it seems a little hard to believe, because in our everyday lives, we don’t see evidence of slavery or human trafficking. I appreciate your skepticism. To answer your question about why you’re suddenly seeing slavery and human trafficking on a lot of shows, in my opinion that’s because TV follows whatever’s “hot”. Right now, slavery, child labor, forced labor, and human trafficking is a “hot” issue in the news and media, and has been getting a lot of coverage. US President Obama spoke about it in a recent speech. The UK observed “Anti Slavery Day” on October 18. Lot’s of news coverage on the topic lately, etc. So everyone wants to get on the bandwagon and cover what’s popular. But the second part, “Is it that prevalent?” is a different question. Although slavery has never really gone away in history, it actually IS more prevalent in the last 20 to 30 years, and is just in the past 3-5 years getting attention in the media. Since the end of the Cold War, with the rise of global economic markets, coupled with numerous regional conflicts and a huge incentive to supply cheap labor quickly worldwide to compete, slavery has been steadily on the rise. Every war, every breakdown of stable government, and every regional economic crisis deepens the problem. So today, we have slaves for ordinary labor, as well as slaves for commercial sex in every country on every continent. It’s probably safe to say there are slaves in every significant city in the world, but it’s hard to prove. They work in isolated farms, factories, brothels, restaurants, hotels, small businesses, private homes, warehouses, massage parlors, all kinds of businesses all around us, but they aren’t easy to spot. Many times in Canada and the US they are in ethnic enclaves where you and I couldn’t infiltrate, even if we wanted to, unless we were Korean, or Russian, or Mexican, or Chinese. Watch a few of the documentaries on my Movies page, or read a non-fiction book from my Books page. (I don’t make money on the books or movies, nor by you clicking on the links, so don’t worry that I’m trying to make money off you. My “profit” is helping inform others.) A good book to start with is “Not For Sale” because it’s fairly easy to read, focuses on personal stories, and shows you a good overview of slavery around the world. A good movie to start with is “Not For Sale“, “Half the Sky” or any of the documentaries at the Free The Slaves site. Visit some of the organizations that are linked on the sidebar on the left, and you’ll get better informed as well.

Thanks again for visiting and commenting. Please write back if you have more questions or thoughts.
-Carl